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** 13 April 2023
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** UK
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** Opinion: Vaping can be part of the solution, but it needs stricter controls (#1)
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** Opinion: The Times view on the government’s plans to make Britain ‘smoke-free’ by 2030: Butt In (#2)
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** Study reveals cancer’s ‘infinite’ ability to evolve (#3)
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** International
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** E-cigarette maker Juul agrees to pay $462m to settle claims by six US states (#4)
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** UK
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** Opinion: Vaping can be part of the solution, but it needs stricter controls
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**
Writing for The Times, Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, Neil O’Brien, outlines the Government’s next steps towards achieving a Smokefree 2030.
Mr O’Brien highlights the significant, positive impact tobacco control measures have had since 2010 to reduce the national smoking rate from 20% in 2010 to 13% in 2021. However, Mr O’Brien states, “the job is not done”, as there remain 5.4 million smokers in England today, up to two-thirds of whom will die prematurely as a result of smoking.
The Minister highlights new, “pioneering measures” to tackle smoking. These measures include a new, national, “swap to stop” scheme to encourage smokers to switch to vaping, a financial incentive scheme to encourage pregnant women to quit, and investment in a new “illicit vapes enforcement squad” to tackle underage vaping.
Mr O’Brien concludes by stating, “The evidence is clear — we need to bring down smoking rates to extend the healthy life expectancy of our population, and do everything we can to protect our children from illegally accessing vapes”.
Source: The Times, 12 April 2023
See also: Policy Exchange - Achieving Smokefree 2030: Cutting Smoking and Stopping Kids Vaping ([link removed])
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** Opinion: The Times view on the government’s plans to make Britain ‘smoke-free’ by 2030: Butt In
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** Following Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, Neil O’Brien’s, smokefree 2030 announcement, The Times calls on Minister’s to do more to tackle smoking and name the ban on smoking in public places as “among the most successful public health interventions in British history”.
The Times criticise Rishi Sunak’s government for ignoring Dr Javed Khan’s recommendation to increase the legal of sale for tobacco by one year every year, arguing “the best way to help smokers quit, as most of them wish to, is to ensure that it is as difficult as possible to become a smoker in the first place.”
The authors commend Mr O’Brien introduction of a “swap to stop” scheme for adult smokers and a financial incentive scheme for pregnant smokers, but urge ministers to reconsider their stance on raising the legal age of sale.
The Times conclude by stating, “no government has ever regretted butting in to the private lives of smokers whose habit not only kills themselves but blights the lives of others, and costs the NHS billions of pounds.”
Source: The Times, 12 April 2023
See also : ASH - Response to DHSC press release: "Smokers encouraged to swap cigarettes for vapes in world first scheme" ([link removed]) | The Khan Review: Making smoking obsolete ([link removed])
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** Study reveals cancer’s ‘infinite’ ability to evolve
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** An unprecedented analysis of how cancers grow has revealed an "almost infinite" ability of tumours to evolve and survive, say scientists.
The results of tracking lung cancers for nine years left the research team "surprised" and "in awe" at the formidable force they were up against.
They have concluded we need more focus on prevention, with a "universal" cure unlikely any time soon. Cancer Research UK said early detection of cancer was vitally important.
The study - entitled TracerX - provides the most in-depth analysis of how cancers evolve and what causes them to spread.
Prof Charles Swanton, from the Francis Crick Institute and University College London said: “I don't think we're going to be able to come up with universal cures. If we want to make the biggest impact we need to focus on prevention, early detection and early detection of relapse”.
Obesity, smoking, alcohol and poor diet all increase the risk of some cancers. Tackling inflammation in the body is also being seen as a way of preventing cancer. Inflammation is the likely explanation for air pollution causing lung cancers and inflammatory bowel disease increasing the risk of colon cancer.
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** Dr David Crosby, the head of prevention and early detection at Cancer Research UK, said: "The exciting results emerging from TracerX improve our understanding that cancer is a disease which evolves as it progresses, meaning that late-stage cancers can become very hard to treat successfully."
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** "This underscores the crucial importance of further research to help us to detect cancers at the earliest stages of their development or even better, to prevent them from happening at all."
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Source: BBC News, 12 April 2023
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** See also: Nature - The evolution of non-small cell lung cancer metastases in TRACERx ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed])
** International
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** E-cigarette maker Juul agrees to pay $462m to settle claims by six US states
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**
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** E-cigarette maker Juul has agreed to pay $462m to settle claims by six US states including New York and California that it unlawfully marketed its addictive products to minors, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
With the deal, Juul Labs Inc will have settled with 45 states for more than $1bn. The company did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which also included Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico as well as the District of Columbia.
Juul is still facing a lawsuit by Minnesota, where a trial is currently under way, as well as lawsuits or open investigations by Florida, Michigan, Maine and Alaska. In addition to the state settlements, the company last year agreed to pay $1.7bn to settle thousands of lawsuits by local government entities and individual consumers.
Source: The Guardian, 12 April 2023
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